It’s a much-loved destination, but there are many perplexing things about Hong Kong that make us wonder if we really understand this neon-lit destination.
Worry over superstitions
This forward-looking city is always fretting about ancient superstitions. Everyone is so anxious about the number four (a homophone of “death” in Chinese) that buildings go without both fourth and 14th floors and everyone avoids things packaged in fours and (because it’s the colour of mourning) in white. Feng shui masters are still consulted about the angle of buildings and how they might annoy dragons. If you wonder why high rises have holes in them, now you know.
The liking for British “treats”
From street food to the most highfalutin Cantonese cuisine, you’re never short of great eats in Hong Kong, which is one of the world’s foremost dining cities. So what’s with the lingering fondness for old-fashioned, east-west-blend cafes, which are something of a Hong Kong institution? It’s like eating in a 1950s time warp: French toast, pork chop with noodles, undefined curries, scrambled egg with white sliced bread, milky tea. Endearing, but weird.
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Tram nostalgia
Talking of old-fashioned things, Hong Kong still runs trams that ought to be consigned to a museum – all the more peculiar in a city whose up-to-date public transport is excellent. The trams have inexplicably survived from the colonial era. The carriages rattle, the wheels screech, and seats are designed for Lilliputians. Locals call them ding-dings from the sound of their bells, and protested when electronic replacements were introduced. Enjoy the retro ride.
The hidden shops and restaurants
How do you get into a building that seemingly has no entrance? Take a lift that never arrives? And why would you ferret in the basements and upper floors of ordinary buildings anyway? Because somewhere inside, you’ll find eclectic fashion stores and cheap eateries with no care for style but only for content. How these places do business is hard to fathom. You just have to know about them. Ask a local, and plunge in.
The fast-forward energy
This city has always thrived on immigration and trade, and wants to get ahead. It’s no place for the languid. Everyone rushes, everyone has a hustle, everyone has somewhere they’re supposed to be. The buzz is what makes Hong Kong exciting, but you’d better keep up. Come on, place your restaurant order. Make sure you have your transport card at the ready. Patience is only seen in that un-Chinese leftover from British days, the orderly queue.
All that green space
The stereotype of Hong Kong is skyscrapers and squeeze. Why do visitors ignore the green space? And how do 7.5 million people pack into this small territory and yet still leave room for the outdoors? About half of Hong Kong is covered in greenery and nature reserves, hiking trails are everywhere and well maintained, and wildlife includes buffalo, wild pigs, monkeys and porcupines. It also has attractive islands where life continues at a slow pace.
The survival of Chungking Mansions
Slap in prime Tsim Sha Tsui real estate and not far from glitzy malls and upmarket hotels is one of the world’s most infamous tenement buildings, famous for decades among backpackers and dropouts, and still going strong. It’s a five-block warren of dingy shops, small businesses and dubious accommodations where you might knock a hole in the wall with your elbow, or get electrocuted in the shower. Chaotic, grubby, slightly frightening, but an absolute legend.
The oversupply of handbags
You might ask yourself how many $4000 handbags are necessary for survival. If Hong Kong is anything to go by, the answer is lots. The city is one of the world’s great luxury-goods hubs, and if you feel the urge to splurge then you’ll have no end of bag, watch and cocktail-dress choice from every top international brand. The reason there are so many ultra-chic retail outlets? Cashed-up shoppers from mainland China.
The love of dim sum
The best dim sum (or yum cha) in upmarket Hong Kong restaurants is an experience of classical Cantonese cuisine at its best. But the ordinary, everyday dim sum? I appreciate it suits the frenetic 24-hour Hong Kong lifestyle, but it isn’t that enjoyable for tourists. Its noisy, chaotic and confusing, and you’ll find it impossible to have a balanced meal. Plus, unless you have some local friends, you’ll seldom have enough fellow diners to enjoy the full range of goodies.
Frigid air-conditioning
The heat is subtropical at times, so air-con is welcome, but not cranked up to Arctic levels. Spend too long in a shopping mall and you’ll get frostbite. Sit too long on a bus and your nose becomes numb. If you have to do business, wear thermal underwear beneath your suit because temperatures in offices are apparently set to suit polar bears. No attempt at the slightest climate-change reduction in the thermostat here.
Brian Johnston seemed destined to become a travel writer: he is an Irishman born in Nigeria and raised in Switzerland, who has lived in Britain and China and now calls Australia home.
